George Henry Moss (b.1890), who's the mother? where are the siblings?

[joshii5]

Thanks! I really appreciate this, and it also brings up a host of other questions. There is no doubt in my mind that Rachel Hitch is my Rachel, as the locations are simply too close together to be a coincedence. She would have walked practically past Dale End (young John's house) when travelling to/from the Leys and New Street. Not to mention that their fathers, along with Rachel's employer, were all coal miners together. Shame there isn't really anything recognisable from the era on Google Streetview.

However, if the first three children are registered as Birden, then it makes you wonder who is named as the father? Was it the law at the time to name the man you were married to as the father? Would Henry Moss even have had a mention on the birth certificate?

Even more disconcerting is the fact that there is no death entry for John Burden. Does this mean that Rachel and Henry married bigamously, or could they have been granted a divorce? If so, is there a way I could find the decree nici which I assume would tell the whole story (I'm guessing it would be in the public domain by now)?

Another conundrum. Harriet Birden is listed in the census, from her parents’ marriage onward as Harriet Moss. When she started to have children herself, in particular my great grandmother Rachel in 1907 (out of wedlock), they also bore the name of Moss. When she married Henry Price in 1911, her maiden name was given as ‘Moss’, and the same maiden name is given for the children she started to have with Price in the years afterwards. I don’t understand how any of this can be, when her actual maiden name was Birden.

[joshii5]

Oops, pressed 'quote' instead of 'modify'!

[dj123]

I am very new to geneology but am researching my great grandmother Rachel Moss.  Born 1886 in Darlaston.   Married Arthur H. Harrison.   I know that she had a sister Jennie Moss who married an Adams and lived at 49 Cobden St.  Darlaston.       Beyond that her past has been one of those family things no one talked about, but what little was shared was that "hush hush  there was no father listed on nannie's birth certificate".    I think that her and Jenny may be your missing Rachel (1887) and Jennie (1893)?   Need some help on where to go from here.

[joshii5]

I am very new to geneology but am researching my great grandmother Rachel Moss.  Born 1886 in Darlaston.   Married Arthur H. Harrison.   I know that she had a sister Jennie Moss who married an Adams and lived at 49 Cobden St.  Darlaston.       Beyond that her past has been one of those family things no one talked about, but what little was shared was that "hush hush  there was no father listed on nannie's birth certificate".    I think that her and Jenny may be your missing Rachel (1887) and Jennie (1893)?   Need some help on where to go from here.

Hello distant cousin. Have you seen the birth certificate in question? I don't really have the means, but from what I can surmise from the previous data is that this Rachel Moss (b.1886, and the sister to my dad's great-grandmother) would have been born as 'Rachel Birden'. Her mother (Rachel Burden - nee Hitch) was either married or widowed to John Burden/Burdon (I swear, there are no two same spellings of this name), but was by this point separated from him and was living with Henry Moss... who would be the biological father of Rachel, even if 'officially' the birth certificate had to show the husband as the father, or no father at all.

Rachel Snr. eventually married Henry in 1887. I ordered their marriage certificate and she is definitely shown as 'widowed'. I assume John Burdon must have died between 1886 -1887, either that or they committed bigamy.

Did you ever hear of a Harriet Moss, who was the elder sister to Rachel and Jane? She married Henry Price in 1911, and married again in 1921 to William Berry (hence her name of 'Nannie Berry'). However, before she married Henry she already had three children; one of which was my great-grandmother Rachel Moss (in 1907).

[dj123]

I have now seen the birth certificate in question.  My great - grandmother (Rachel, b 1886) was born Rachel Birden, to Rachel Birden 21 Bull St. Darlaston.   No father listed.  She also used the last name of Moss when married in 1910.     I have asked and the sisters (my Grandmother and her sister) and they do not remember an aunt Harriet,  in fact they remember that my great grandmother had 3 sisters -- Jenny (Jane), Sally (Sarah), and Maria???  and a brother George.      Which all lines up except for Harriet/Maria.   Did your Harriet have a middle name?    I will ask Grams to see what she might remember -- she is now 96 so the memory is a bit fuzzy.

[joshii5]

For reference, I only have a family tree my paternal grandparents made many years ago. If I ever get back in touch with Gertrude (my grandmother) I'll see if I can find out more about Harriet.

Incidentally, the Moss sisters 'did' have another sister, through their dad's first marriage. Her name was Rebecca Moss and she was born in 1868. After her mother died she lived with the Mosses right up until at least the 1891 census.

[joshii5]

Actually, I have another question for you. It may seem odd but did that side of your family have anything to do with Portsmouth? This is apparently where Rachel (Harriet's daughter) spent a great deal of time - which makes me wonder if one or more members of the family were 'farmed out', for whatever reason.

[dj123]

Grams does remember Harriet as "the sister that had 2 husbands".     Re "farmed out"  ---It is my understanding that Nanny (Rachel Moss b 1886)  "went into service" at 11 or 12 years of age, perhaps for a minister,  which would explain why she appears to be no longer living with the Moss family in Darlaston in the 1901 census.    I will ask about Portsmouth.

[joshii5]

Spoke to my grandmother for the first time in ten years yesterday. I found out some extremely interesting information. My grandmother is the daughter of Rachel, Harriet's first child.

She remembers George Moss as being a wonderful man, bit of a rebel, he served in the army and decorated numerous times, but apparently 'could never keep hold of them'.

Harriet's first husband Henry was a prize-fighter and died of brain damage. 

In 1929, one of Harriet's sisters and her husband, I forgot to ask which one, offered to take my baby grandmother with them to Sasketchewan, Canada, as she was born out of wedlock. They would have raised her on a farm rearing horses for the mounted police. For some reason this never happened. Could this have been your great grandmother perhaps?

This exemplifies the difficulty of life without birth control. Harriet (my great great grandmother) was still having children with her second husband right up until 1929 and my grandmother's birth, so their house at 1. Bissel Street was becoming immensely crowded.

The Portsmouth link is my great-grandmother Rachel fleeing the shame in early 30s and 'starting again' with her new husband and daughter, although the family returned to Harriet in Wolverhampton when the war broke out.

Hope this answers a lot of questions